FORTUNES OF THE TURF
SUPPORTERS OF STATESMAN.
OVER £250,900 REAPED.
The Australian bookmakers suffered heavy losses over the victory of Statesman in the 1928 Melbourne Cup. and on settling day in. Melbourne it is estimated that' morq than a Quarter of a million pounds sterling changed hands.
There were scenes of wild jubilation when Statesman ran first past the post. He has been the; public fancy for, many months, since the issuing of the weights, in fact, and had been backed solidly in doubles and' straight-out at all odds. Although he did not finish the actual favourite on the course, he; was easily the worst horse for the bookmakers.
Strephon, thie winner erf the V.R.C. Derby, and the short-priced favourite, only came into favour during the last two wqeks.of the Cup betting and was not nearly so well supported as Statesman.
Features of the last-minute wagering on the Cup were the; solid; support given to Maple, the Caulfield Cup winner. She was backed for £43,000 on the night before the Cup, while) big amounts were also written against many others of the more fancied brigade. Statesman and Strephop were the only horses backed withip double figures, but big commissions came for Epilogue, who was trained) by A. Schobie, who also prepared Trivalve, Bitalli, King Ingoda, and) Rivoli, all previous winners. Backers reckoned that Epilogue’s win in the Hotham Handicap on the* first day of the V.R.C. racing carnival merited his support in the Cup. Epilogue, howeven, finished a long way back. Bajmerjno, one of the lesser lights of the three-year-olds, was the minor horse of the race. He was in the lead for a great part of the race, and, though he is reported) to have broken down over the final stages, he struggled bravely on and was only beaten for. third money by Demost, a lightlyweighted runner.
Sydney jment wild with excitement, huge crowds gathering ip the streets listening to radio accounts of the rac;6i. Statesman was a Sydn'qytrained and owned horse, running m the colours of |a veteran owner-train-er, wiltfam Klelso. He made no, secret of statesman’s form, and! advised his friepds twelve months ago that he was preparing Statesman for, the Cup. The jockey of Statesman, too, J. Munro, is Sydney’s crack rider, and it ■is safe to say that a big, proportion of the £250,000 paid out over Statesman’s win will go ito Sydnley.
At the settling in the; Victorian Racing Club’s rooms in Melbourne’ on the Wednesday there were unprecedented scenes.
Bookmakers Mannie Lyons and Bob Jansen brought £70,009 cash to pay Cup winners. There were many others who had £lO,OOO or more in front of them when thq settling menqed. Bookmakers reported that it was an expensive Cup for them, and particularly was this so for, the Sydney antepost ringm'qn. At one stage of the betting before th|e Cup Statesman was a £20,000 worse horse for Sydney’s leviathan bookmakers than any of the other Cup winners. Needless to say, they covered up some of their liabilities, but after taking the odds to £3OOO one of them was still a sui> stantial leper over the Cup. One of the biggest winners was one off the syndicates which had: taken £60,000 worth of Statesman ear,ly in the betting. One of the; syndicates also backed the winning doubly. Maple and Statesman, for £40,000. Bookmakers predict that shorter odds will be offered at nlext year’s Cup at the opening of the lists after weights have been declared. This year the field was laid at 250 ita 1 when the lists first opened, and from those odds to the starting odds at the start of the Cup Statesman was backed consistently.
To make matters wopse, the; minor races at the meeting were won by wiell-fancied candidates, and nearly every bookmaker, reported hqavy losses. Bookmakers are realising these days that punters are becoming too well informed and do not throw away their money on worthless horses. A feature this year of the Cup betting was the small number of horses which retired from the race before the; start owing to, injuries. Very few of the wiell-backed horses failed to go to the post, whereas in other years thousands of pounds have been put in the boc>kmakersl’ bags owing to breakdown or loss of form by fanciejd candidates.
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Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5359, 3 December 1928, Page 1
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717FORTUNES OF THE TURF Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5359, 3 December 1928, Page 1
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